Cologne, Germany -- In what is certainly not the last presentation on three-dimensional printing technology and its uncertain role in the future of commerce, a German technologist explained why we will someday be producing goods in the living room.

The revolution in 3-D printing -- the process of making a three-dimensional solid object out of digital information -- is likely to develop slowly, he said, as efficiencies in design compound over time, making 3-D-printing machines easier to own and operate.

Recent promotions for a refinancing deal through Third Federal Savings & Loan include a Home Depot connection -- a $100 gift card for borrowers.

“Open your Third Federal Smart Rate Mortgage by Aug. 24 and we’ll give you a $100 gift card to The Home Depot,” writes Third Federal chairman and CEO Marc Stefanski in the postscript to a letter to mass letter to homeowners.

Across the country, and across a broad spectrum of industries, advertisements sporting mobile bar codes are becoming an increasingly familiar sight. QR codes — quick response codes — are the most common of a few types of bar codes that consumers can scan using a pre-downloaded smartphone app. The bar codes may appear on anything from posters to packaging to catalogs and, when scanned, lead consumers to a specific set of information, often through a mobile website.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it is taking a closer look at new uses of glymes, chemicals used in a wide array of consumer products that include paints and coatings, adhesives and household batteries, as well as printing ink and motor vehicle brake systems.